Calling all MN Social Workers! How child friendly is social work? Can a lone parent do it? Please help

[possiblymaybe]

me to make my mind if I should apply for MA in social work this year. I really want to do it but unsure if I manage on my own. I've got 16 month dd..

Thanks guys

I did the MA with a 9 month old and an absent OH.

I did rely on my parents quite a lot though because I worked part time as well on top.

It's doable and it's only 2 years which whizz by but it'll be a hard slog.

Thanks mrspnut

I'm quite sure I'll manage doing a ma..It's doing a job afterwards I worry about!

Did you do social work? Do you work as a social worker now?
How flexible it is? Can you easily find a part-time/job share position?

I no longer do social work but welfare rights instead, but there's loads of social work jobs out there and it's just as easy to find a job share as it is to find a full time job.

Look at the jobs on communitycare.co.uk for your area to get an idea of what's out there.

Thanks again mrspnut.

That's really helpful.

.

I shouldn't post because I am jaded and hate social work and am getting out as soon as I can

I just wanted to say that I think you will need to choose your post carefully and ensure you have got a reliable support network. A single parent/social worker combination is going to be very, very draining for you. My first statutory post was in a children and families team and the workload is mammoth. And it is the kind of job I'm afraid when if something happens like having to do interviews re a child protection investigation, or having to find an emergency placement for a child in care, you just stay till it is done really. There are out of hours teams etc, I'm not saying you'll be there till midnight but the days can be long and unpredictable.

I think if I were in your position I might go and see if you can shadow a few different sorts of teams to get a picture of what might fit best with you. Maybe it could be arranged as part of the MA, I take it you will have a long placement?

I practised as a children and families SW before having the children - whilst i wouldn't wish to put you off - i was overwhelmed by the paperwork / admin and time required as a single person and although wanted to be a SAHM whilst children are young i wouldnt rush back to statutory SW. I went part time shortly before concieving DD due to health reasons (not related to job) and found i still had to put in full time hours for half the salary just to keep my head above water.
Obviously it is a demanding job otherwise everyone would be doing it. No-one can tell you whether it is the right thing for you - perhaps look at some voluntary work / support work in the field to give you an insight whilst studying. This could help inform what direction you take after studying. There are so many roles out there.
I wish you luck with your studies/ future career!

Your post appeared as i was typing Honoria! But sounds like you have similar advice.

that's a good point about part-time ilovecake. I worked with a mum of 3 who worked part time, and she coped by being hard headed about it; basically 'sod the paperwork, I'll do the statutory visits as they are most important'....well, they ARE important but the thing in SW is that it's ALL important; if a case goes to court and you haven't completed your statutory paperwork, you're in trouble. It depends if you can compartmentalise very well in your head. I think this woman managed it - but she had a fair bit of time off sick, which I would bet was stress related.

Also with statutory SW I think you need to arm yourself with knowledge about what YOU personally are legally answerable for. for example an ASW apparently is legally responsible for someone that they have helped section, until that person is accepted by a hospital; NOT the police, NOT the psychiatrist, but the SW alone!

As I say, be very thoughtful about the teams you apply for!

Oh I'm sorry you feel this way Honoria

but thank you for sharing as I really need to have as realistic picture of social services as possible before I go on to commit to 2 year course.

The long hours don't sound great, do they. Is there a scope for flexible working/job share?

Shadowing a sw is good idea-will give it a go.

Can I ask,by the way, why do you feel this way about your job?

Thank you ilovecake for your post too..
It took me ages to type a reply (between breastfeeding teething dd)to a first post by Honoria.

I feel sw will suit my personality/life expeiences. And that I could make a difference.But I'm being too idealistic probably..
I'm also thinking about doing sw to have a financial independence and job security - there seems to be a lot of reasonably well-paid jobs advartised. Or am I being mistaken?

You gave me lots of food for thought tonight. Thank you

they are keen for SWs so there is always scope for flexibility - it's just to bear in mind, as I said, if you are working on a piece of work like finding a placement for a kid on an emergency basis, you basically need to get that done, even if it's 6pm - if there's no other bugger in the office....in my place of work the out of hours team were very remote and the 'done thing' was very much you did your work; if something came in overnight they are there, but not to finish off bits of work that you haven't had time for. Obviously I haven't worked in every SW office in the country, maybe this was just mine!

I feel the way I do about the job after about 13 years of working very, very hard to try to have a positive effect on people's lives, but most of the time they don't want you there anyway, and society at large thinks you're crap.

Also I have found that most people (when they come to SS, the thresholds now being SO high) are simply the ones who don't want, can't accept, the help. So it feels like nothing changes most of the time and you see cycles of abuse passing on down families

However, as I said, I really shouldn't post - I'm too negative. I hope you get some other views. I do know people who carry on in SW happily enough

I think they are better than me at compartmentalising, emotionally switching off, and not putting their heart and soul into every meeting. Sad that it has to be that way but it seems a way to survive the job!

Thanks again Honoria for your post.

You sound like a great sw.. It's such a shame people like you leave due to lack of adequate funding.

I found the course pretty draining and demanding (this was pre-children)
However if you have lots of family/friends who can help out with childcare I think you should be able to manage it.
I love the work but it is emotionally draining and you have to be able to switch off at the end of the day otherwise you face burning out.

The MA is a breeze with kids, as long as you get good placement teachers. You usually get a good few mums on the course as well, which is nice.

Social work is not too bad and getting better for flexible working/part time etc, as it's basically local authorities, nhs or voluntary orgs who are the main employers and they tend to have okish perks to make up for average pay. As Honoria says, in most fields of social work there are occasional emergencies where you will have to be there until the crisis is resolved. And the work can be stressful.

Where are you thinking of studying? And do you know what area of social work you are interested in yet? I went into my course wanting to do children and families work but came out the other end working in adult mental health.

Actually- one bit of MA wasn't a breeze- forgot about the dissertation- that was a nightmare. Had to do it over trhe summer and was getting up at 4am every day as had no childcare as was skint. Horrors. Was nasty and grumpy and screamed at my son for no reason. Try not to do a dissertation unless you can get lots of childcare! Or are very good at dissertations.

I work as a hospital SW with adults and have now been qualified for over 20 years. Unlike some others who have posted, I do enjoy my work, although it can be very stressful, particularly the pressures due to lack of resources, mountains of paperwork and challenging relationships with Health colleagues. I second what people have said about shadowing some SWs to give you a better idea of the range of possiblities, and that's also expected as part of the course. Have you thought which area of SW might attract you? - although, of course, you may change your mind as you experience different settings.

I work part time, as do several of my colleagues, and I think it's generally quite easy to find hours to suit you, although stress levels can be greater because of the time management skills required due to having to complete pieces of work before your day off/before you leave to pick up the children from school. I do 4 days/week, 2 long and 2 short (school hours), so always have to have in my head what day of the week it is and my deadline. However, I've managed that for many years (my dd is nearly 13 and ds 9.5) and there's also the scope for things such as parental leave if a child is poorly and you've used up your allocated holiday - which is comparatively generous anyway. Thankfully mine are both generally very healthy and so that's not been a big issue. Once your children are at school the long holidays can be a challenge, particularly if several other team members have kids, and we're only allowed 3 people off at any one time - so you have to make sure you plan well in advance.

I've also taken SW students for many years, of whom several have had dependent children (and I've managed this in spite of being part time), and most have coped admirably with the demands of the placement and the academic work.

We have had part-time/job-share managers as well, which shows both equality of opportunity and demonstrates that motherhood and advancement in SW are perfectly possible.

Altogether I think it's a real privilege and humbling experience to be able to stand alongside people in their time of need, and although I'm sure it's right what some other posters have said about child protection work (which I personally wouldn't want to do anyway), we do have people who genuinely appreciate the help we give them and it is possible to make a difference in someone else's life, which is what it's all about. (I'm still quite idealistic in spite of having done it for so long!). Hope that helps.

Thank you serenadipipity, ScummyMummy and overthehill...Your posts were extremely helpful.

I'm thinking of working with children and families simply because it's the area I have most experience in. But I can also see myself in mental health setting, working with elderly or people with learning disabilities.So it's something I'm quite open-minded about.

I live in North London so ideally I'd like to
study somewhere local. I'm thinking Middlesex, Metropolitan, South Bank..Do you have any knowledge about these particular courses? What is the best place to study sw in London in your experience?

.

I don't know about the colleges you mentioned but I would make sure that they have good links with local authorities to make sure that you have good quality placements.

Thank you serenadipipity

Goldsmiths is a good course, with very good placements available (I didn't study there, but have had students from there).

I find with adult mental health social work I do generally finish on time, unless I am on duty and involved with a mental health act assessment.

I am looking for work at the moment due to relocation and have found it difficult to get part-time work (am about to start a new part-time post, but it sounds a bit ). When you are full-time, it's really easy to drop down to part-time hours, but it's harder to find a part-time vacancy to begin with. All the part-timers I know are doing a job they once did full-time, if that makes sense.

Thanks PerkinWarbeck ! It's very helpful..

I went to Goldsmiths too. It was ok. I went with quite low expectations so wasn't disappointed. It's a very "get on with it, go and talk and read amongst yourselves" course in terms of the "academic" side. Which is fine, but there were quite a few earnest and intense types who were rather annoying in the talking bits and spent lots of time arguing passionately and self-indulgently about f all. Many social work lecturers are very touchy about how their subject is viewed by other academics and eager to prove the academic credentials of social work so you have to try and sound erudite and dilemma-ridden about common sense stuff quite a bit of the time if you want to pass. Occasionally I had a good study group though. I remember one time feeling very happy because I looked round the room and concluded that most people in it would be very good social workers.

Also on the positive side, I really enjoyed both my placements and learned a lot, made one permanent and lovely friend and, apart from the dissertation, found the whole thing extremely restful compared to the job I had quit in order to attend.

I was extremely lucky with my placements, though. At least 50% of my cohort had a very negative experience in one or both. I would say in about half their cases it might have been partially because they were difficult and hard to please people but the other half were perfectly personable yet were allocated to placements either inappropriate or managed by incompetent gorgons. Good practice teachers can be hard to find, unfortunately.

South Bank has quite a bad word of mouth reputation but I'm not sure if it's justified as don't know much about it.
London Metropolitan looked nice when I went to see it- was further away from me so decided against it.
Brunel is supposed to be very good.

hth.

I think it would depend which area you get into. Mum is child protection and she can never guarantee her hours, she can only claim TOIL and is regularly having three months of TOIL and AL to take come February/March! There are other areas that the hours are fixed and you won't end up working over at the drop of a hat.